1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and method consistent with the present invention related to storing status information about a content reproducing device and allowing content to be automatically reproduced using the status information.
2. Description of the Related Art
As much attention has recently been paid to inter-connection between devices in a wired/wireless environment, content has been actively exchanged between devices connected to one another via a cable or under a remote control. Also, as use of televisions (TVs) having a wired/wireless universal serial bus (USB) or a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) becomes more widespread, a user can easily deliver various contents to a TV and evaluate them via a wide, high-resolution screen. For example, user-created content (UCC) manufactured using a camcorder or a personal computer (PC), images captured using a digital camera, or MP3 music files can be easily delivered to and reproduced in a TV and be evaluated via a large-scale screen. Also, a wired/wireless USB may be applied to a home theater so that image files can be displayed via a large-scale screen in a convenient manner. As the total number of HDMIs for a TV increases more and more, multiple devices, such as game consoles, camcorders, and digital cameras, can be connected at a time in order to exchange content therebetween.
As exchange of content between digital devices has been actively conducted as described above, there is a growing need for development of a method of effectively displaying content according to the user's intentions when exchange of the content is conducted. However, according to a related art method of reproducing content when a first device is connected to a second device, the same content is searched for again through a multimedia application menu screen provided after the connection and is reproduced in the second device.
FIGS. 1a to 1D illustrate a related art method of reproducing content while content devices are connected. In detail, FIGS. 1A to 1D illustrate a method of connecting a device A 110 to a device B 120 and reproducing the content in the device B 120.
For example, while the device A 110, which is a mobile device, displays a first picture (see FIG. 1A), the device A 110 is connected to the device B 120 in order to view the first picture via a wide, high-resolution screen of the device B 120 (see FIG. 1B). Then, the first picture is searched for again through menu selection in a data center management (DCM) main screen displayed on the device B 120 (see FIG. 1C). Lastly, the first picture is selected and displayed in the device B 120 (FIG. 1D).
Thus, after the device A 110 and the device B 120 are connected, it is inconvenient since the user should search for the first picture again via the DCM main screen in the device B 120. Accordingly, there is a need to develop a method of allowing content to be automatically reproduced without having to perform a complicated search process so that a user can seamlessly evaluate the content in an optimal environment.